Over the past few years I've gotten sucked into watching "let's play" videos of people off all ages (from their teens to their 40s) playing video games and I was wondering if it's a valid form of entertainment to some of you guys?

I liken it to standing in the background while watching someone else play a game that you can't for whatever reason but it surprises me how some of them have near rock star status in certain circles. They receive fan mail, have fan clubs and followers on Twitter. Some even receive monetary gifts through Twitch or Pantheon. Getting a kickback on advertising through YouTube is one thing, but this other stuff kind of worries me. What do you think?

What really surprises me is that some of these people appear to receive endorsements from game producers and are even asked to represent them at conventions. In a way, they're like pro athletes. Many of these people are washouts from retail or low level corporate jobs who took a risk in investing in a high end PC and now rely on riding a trend in gaming popularity and relying on their own personality to put them ahead of their peers. That's incredible - and even a little crazy - to me. Am I dinosaur for feeling this way? Again, what do you guys think?

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Married to Kelly, 6/19/1999
SAHD since August, 2004
Father to Justin, 2/27/2004
Father to Joseph, 3/11/2007

Funny, about two weeks ago or so I actually watched an ESPN E:60 program about these "kids" who were professional gamers participating in some major tournament for "Dota"... prize pool was $18million, with $6 million going to the winning team.

I admit, I am not currently and never have been a gamer, so a lot of this was foreign to me, but it was fascinating to watch... particularly as I see my own boys slated to grow up in a much more technologically advanced era (compared to the Atari 2600 we did own when I was a kid)

That said, some of the winners were kids living in their parents basement...

My oldest plays LOL (league of legends) all the time, he used to tell me stories about how they would play some tournament on Super Bowl Sunday and still get hundreds of thousands people watching the tournament live online. I think the Koreans always win. But they make some good cash if they win.

I gave up video games when I was 13. When I wanted to get another game or upgrade systems, (quite expensive for a kid in the country with no job) Dad sat me down and explained " someone is getting rich off your ass and those games- be that guy" Good speech I recall.

More power to them. Never begrudge anyone from making a buck off something they're good at - as long as it's legal.

On a somewhat related note....I'm sure many of you remember Tecmo Super Bowl. In college we had tournaments with the whole floor of our dorm involved. We'd play a whole season in one night. Anyway, caught this NFL Films documentary a few years ago. Some guys in Madison run an annual Tecmo tournament with people traveling from all over the country to compete. Pretty interesting if you remember/played the game. Here's the link.

My younger son watches a lot of videos like you describe Kwak. I try to be open minded, even though I have no interest in any of it. Really though, it makes more sense than me watching football with no ability to play. At least after watching gamers he can go try it himself. If we're crazy enough to spend hundreds of dollars to sit in the snow and watch NFL games, there's no doubt there's a future in professional gaming on many levels.